Justice Department gives Oklahoma grant to help processing DNA evidence

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- A grant from the US Justice Department is expected to help Oklahoma catch up on its backlog of more than 15,000 DNA samples from convicted offenders. <br><br>The grant is for about

Monday, September 22nd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- A grant from the US Justice Department is expected to help Oklahoma catch up on its backlog of more than 15,000 DNA samples from convicted offenders.

The grant is for about $600,000.

Since 1996, people convicted of violent crimes have been required to submit DNA evidence to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to compare with evidence from other crimes.

OSBI laboratory director Darrel Wilkins says the results have to be stored in a state database, and work has been slow.

DNA taken from convicts has resulted in 15,000 DNA profiles being added to the bureau's databases.